Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Yuck! What a rotten way to end a game

Well, last night kind of stunk. So much for that ninth-inning magic. I'm still peeved about Joe Girardi's dopey move with Nick Swisher. And it isn't second-guessing - I called it at the time. Squawker Jon is my witness!

Here's the story: Jon is housesitting in upstate New York- I tagged along for a few days - and we went to dinner last night at New World Home Cooking in Saugerties (it gets two Squawker thumbs up, by the way!) So we heard the first few innings of the game on XM Radio on the way to dinner, then heard the last inning on the way back.

And by the way, not to get all cranky on this, but John Sterling is really terrible at painting the picture of what's happening in the game, especially when Suzyn is off getting ready to do her postgame interviews. Because it was hard to figure out exactly what the hits looked like.

Anyhow, the Yankees had a great rally going, where the first six batters got on base. They scored four runs, and had runners on first and second, with nobody out. When Nick Swisher came up, Sterling speculated that Swisher might try to bunt. Squawker Jon and I were both surprised to hear that - we both thought he should swing away. Here was the logic:

* Frankie Francisco was on the ropes. It made no sense to give up an out.

* Swisher has 21 homers this season. Even if most of them are away homers, there was still the chance he could hit a homer - or at least get a single - to win or tie the game.

* There was a very good chance Swisher would mess up the bunt. Which is exactly what happened.

* Having him sacrifice made even less sense, given that it was Melky Cabrera coming up after him. I know the Melkman has delivered with three walkoff hits this year, but c'mon.

Anyhow, I was not a happy Squawker after Swisher popped up, and Melky hit into a double play. But for Squawker Jon, he had a moment of joy after yet another miserable day in Metland.

It's only one game, and the Yanks still have a six-game lead. But they should have won it.

However, things could be worse. I could be a Met fan!

* * *

As for Joba, I think it's time to, as Bill Parcells would say, take the Huggies off. Enough of these long rests in between starts. I've had it.

In other news, I read Squawker Jon's Mets entry under protest. You see, The X-Files might be my least favorite TV show ever. David Duchovny is certain my least favorite actor. He's just awful. At any rate, the truth is out there, that if Squawker Jon is going to mention the X-Files, I will be peeved!

I know Joba's rhythm is probably a little off because of these silly Joba Rules that are forced upon him.

But..I am getting sick and freakin' tired of his insufferable nibbling!! My new nickname for him is "The Rodent" because every time he puts runners on base, he tries to pitch too fine and nibble at the corners of the plate like a mouse nibbling on a piece of cheese, and it frustrates me so much that I feel like giving him a friggin smack.

Who the hell does he think he is at age 23, Mike Mussina?? He has electifying stuff and can smoke hitters with 97 mph heat!! WHY THE HELL IS DOES HE NIBBLE, NIBBLE, NIBBLE??

He's done this even when he was pitching on normal rest, so I don't want to hear that it's all because of the Joba Rules -- that's just a bunch of contrived excuses to enable him to have a cop-out to get away with his sudden ineptitude.

I don't know if it's a confidence issue in that he doesn't trust his pitches anymore, or if he feels too pressured, but I'm beginning to feel like the hype that surrounds him is better than his ability to pitch well and that he should never have left the bullpen; that trying to make him a starter is a really bad idea. Right now we're stuck with him in the rotation because we didn't acquire a good pitcher before the trade deadline, so whether the Yankees can get this kid straightened out remains to be seen.

Right now, I have zero confidence in him when he takes the hill. If he's this incompetant in the regular season, exactly how do people think he's going to pitch for us in the Post Season? I know Texas is a great hitting club, but if Joba tried pulling that nibbling bulls*** with the Angels, they'd devour us in three innings!!

We almost overcame the defecit last night, and I agree the bunt attempt by Swisher was a silly risk. We may be saying something else if it would've worked, but still, I feel that if Joba didn't give up five runs in the 4th inning with two men out and no one on base, we would've won last night.

Let's just hope we take the next two games and win this series, because Boston won last night.

I'm sorry but the bunt is the correct play when playing at home - you go for the tie, move the runner to third with one out and hope to get a fly ball to tie the game. Home team has a decided advantage in extra innings. If Swisher swings away and bounces into a DP, and Melky ends the game with the third out, believe me, Girardi gets killed for screwing up and not bunting. The question should be, was Swisher the best option for a bunt? Swisher had a total of exactly 2 sacrifice bunts in last two seasons - so who would have been better, you ask - had he not been used as a pinch runner - the answer is Hairston (15 SF in the last 2 years). It's sort of reminds me of Bob Lemon sending pitch hitter Murcer up to bunt in the 1981 WS - Bobby popped into a DP.

About Us

Lisa is a Yankee fan from Staten Island. Jon is a Met fan from Manhattan. These best friends have been squabbling about their teams -- and each other -- since 2006. Now they are writing about New York City life beyond baseball.